Scenes From a Tower (And Other Iwatodai Hotspots)
by PyramidHead316
Summary: A series of short stories in the life of Minako Arisato, as she navigates the craziness in Tartarus and Iwatodai, along with her close friends - who sometimes aren't as friendly. ;) Multiple characters, Velvet Room, in later chapters. Scene 1: Minako introduces her friends to a new Persona. It doesn't go over well. :) Rated T for suggestive content.


Disclaimer: Atlus USA owns all Persona content. I make no money off these fics.

AN: So, after reading through tons of Persona fics, I decided to write my own! ;-D I hadn't ever contemplated writing a Persona fic before (I'm more of a Star Wars, Silent Hill type of guy), but I had these scenes in my head and they just would not go away until I did something with them. I was originally thinking of submitting them as prompts over on the Bad Bathhouse community, until I realized I might be waiting for 15 months until they finally got filled! So, I decided to write them myself. :) I was originally going to write these as a set of drabbles, but I ended up going over the limit. I can't write short fics. :( These are just a bit of fun, so don't take them too seriously. ;) I also noticed that there was a disturbing lack of Mara fanfic on the Net, surprisingly given its obvious appeal, so that was definitely a motivating factor. It's not quite crack, but it's not entirely serious either. I'm not as good a writer as Ari Moriarty, Katseester, and the others, but I hope you enjoy these fics. ;) This series was partly inspired by the series of drabbles that Katseester did. I've taken some liberties with the fights against the shadows, possibly, but they're minor details and it's to fit the story. :) With regard to the second scene, I didn't mean to take it that far. I just kept going with it, and going, and well, here it is. It was originally supposed to be two pages, and instead it just snowballed. No offense is meant to those who are legitimately mentally ill or undergoing treatment. :) Honest. I just thought the idea might be amusing, given Minako's propensity for coming across so many good looking dateable guys!

Okay, with all the explanations out of the way, let's get to the fun! I won't do another author's note this long, so this is the last one. :) I hope you enjoy the fic! :-D

Note 1: The first scene will only make sense if you know what Mara looks like. ;D

* * *

**Scenes From a Tower (And Other Iwatodai Hotspots...)**

**I. Mara**

The Shadow was still formidable. The party members had given it all they had, laying into it with all the spells they had. Its weakness was fire, and yet it still refused to submit. Minako frowned, lips closed in frustration. Time to bring out the big guns. She wished she'd brought along a persona with Ragnarok, but this would have to do. It was a lack of foresight on her part, but she honestly didn't think she would need it. Putting the Evoker to her head, she pulled the trigger and called forth the most powerful persona in her arsenal, at the moment.

"Mara!"

The green tentacle monster manifested behind her, being pulled along on its chariot. It was the first time she had manifested it in Tartarus, and her friends had never seen it before. But that didn't matter now.

She heard the surprised gasps of her friends nearby. "What the hell is that?" she heard somebody call out from behind her.

The persona hovered in the air on its golden chariot. The monster roared in an angry motion with its tentacles waving around wildly, and Minako even thought she saw its tongue flicking rapidly, in a somewhat suggestive manner. She shuddered. Maybe it was just her imagination. "Maralagidyne!" she called out in a clear voice, recalling the name of the destructive spell she wanted to unleash. Responding to her instructions, the monster reared back in preparation, and waving its tentacles in response, it unleashed a huge wave of fire, green in nature, that burned the Shadow, searing right through its flesh. The Shadow roared in pain, as it was literally burnt to cinders, becoming charred and deformed with every passing moment.

The Shadow fell to the ground, disappearing in a cloud of purplish smoke into the Tartarus background from where it came.

Minako smiled to herself. Mission accomplished.

She turned back to her stunned group of friends, who were looking pale, terrified of what had happened, and in the case of everyone including Junpei, blushing furiously red from the sight they had seen.

There was not one person who wasn't grasping for what to say. "Dude," the baffled Junpei began, "Mina-tan…what the hell was that?" he exclaimed.

Pause. "That was Mara!" Minako answered cheerfully. Best to ignore the obvious physical issues.

The S.E.E.S. members each searched for what to say. "It's awfully…big," Yukari said, diplomatically. Suddenly she realized just what it was she had said. "Wait, that's not what I – I didn't mean it like that!" she blushed deep red, gesturing in denial with her hands. Junpei burst out laughing, doubling over in uncontrollable laughter while holding his stomach.

"Wow, Yuka-tan, I didn't know you were like that!" Junpei remarked teasingly, grinning wildly. Yukari burned where she stood, smoldering as she looked at him with her temper flaring indignantly.

Mitsuru blushed furiously. Minako tried to stifle her giggles, at seeing her friends thrown off by this rather bizarre occurrence. She knew it was wrong to be so amused at the expense of her friends, but they were just so scandalized she couldn't help it. She could only imagine what the normally reserved chairwoman of the Kirijo Group was thinking, at seeing this manifestation of her power, about both the persona and Minako herself. She wondered if Mitsuru was wondering if she had made the right decision, placing her as Leader. Oh well, not her problem.

The laughter coming from Junpei had finally died down. Somehow he had finally managed to gain control, wiping tears from his eyes. That didn't help Yukari, who was still stone still while staring indignantly at Junpei and the others.

An awkward silence reigned over the group.

Finally, a suggestion. "Let's just get going, okay?" Junpei suggested.

The group began moving out of the area toward the stairs. No one said anything about what had just occurred. Suddenly, Junpei doubled over laughing again. The others looked at him. "What?" Yukari asked. Junpei just kept laughing. "Oh man, I can't wait to tell the others about this! Especially Senpai. I bet Akihiko-senpai's going to be so jealous!" he said, howling with laughter. The three women in the group's eyes went wide, and they turned red, especially Minako, as they realized the true meaning behind that statement. Minako, in particular, sputtered indignantly, unsure of how to respond amid the overwhelming embarrassment she suddenly felt.

"Stupei!" someone smacked his arm.

* * *

**II. The Other Side of the Coin...**

The Shadow Knight was still standing, waiting with its deadly lance. This one was one of the toughest Shadows found in Tartarus. The S.E.E.S. members had thrown everything they had at it, and it still refused to die! Minako knew it was a tough bastard; that was okay, she had plenty of personas herself, to deal with it. She pulled out her Evoker, and called out to her hidden powers.

"Mara!" The Persona appeared, and unleashed a wave of fire at the enemy.

"Incubus!"

"Succubus!"

Minako didn't notice the way her friends had stopped fighting, and were now simply staring at her.

It was weird going backwards from the most powerful on down, but it worked. Minako wanted to make sure she still had enough strength to fight in the end, so hitting it with her strongest attack first seemed plausible. Trying different attacks, using different spells, she eventually managed to incapacitate, weaken, and destroy the enemy. The Shadow disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Minako turned to her friends and smiled eagerly, grinning in triumph. "See? Job well done," she said.

The three S.E.E.S. members were silent. Minako frowned. Seemingly, they were each searching for something to say, although nothing came.

"Arisato…" Mitsuru spoke first, hesitating a bit. "That's a rather…unique list of personas," she said delicately.

"Yeah…" Yukari muttered, shuddering at the thought of that…thing, and its deadly spiked implement. Junpei looked at her, but was smart enough not to say anything; this time.

"Arisato…" Mitsuru stepped forward, having seemingly considered something. "Have you considered seeking help with these issues?" she asked, pointedly staring at Minako. "We are always here if you need to talk to us about these things, and the Kirijo Group would be more than willing to provide a perfectly adequate psychologist, if you are unable to afford one. We are simply concerned," Mitsuru stated, as if it was perfectly all right to be calling her best friend crazy and saying she needed to see a shrink.

Minako stared at her. She blinked. "What?" she asked, taken by surprise. "But I…" she tried, but got caught off.

"Arisato, there is no shame in admitting you need help with some issues," Mitsuru told her, glancing at her with a sympathetic look. "We all need to turn to help from others sometimes, sometimes from our friends or even from competent professionals," she stated. To Minako's disbelief, Mitsuru almost sounded like she was chiding her, for not confiding in her earlier. Her face softened. "Minako, I am here for you, if you want to talk," she said softly, like she was talking to a small child, and she gave a look of disapproval to Arisato, like Minako had done something wrong. Minako couldn't believe this was happening. She wanted to protest that she didn't need any help, but Mitsuru seemed like she had made up her mind. "You don't have to do this alone," Mitsuru said softly. And that did it. Minako wanted to shout, _"I'm not crazy guys!"_ Minako couldn't believe this was happening. Her friends were looking at her differently, and it was because of three personas!

The Leader of S.E.E.S. looked at Junpei, who appeared to be cracking up silently. Junpei knew full well that there was nothing wrong with Minako, but he seemed to be having way too much fun with this to correct them. "Hey, didn't Mina-tan go out with Akihiko-senpai last week?" he said, adding fuel to the fire.

"That's right. She went out with Shinjiro in October, Akihiko after him, and then with Amada last week," Mitsuru said, as if she had discovered the missing piece to some puzzle at last. "In fact, she even timed it so that she went out with Amada before she went out with Akihiko. I know because I kept track of it on the command console for security purposes." Mitsuru and Yukari traded a look of horror, while Junpei just sat back and smiled. "Damn it, I should have realized what was happening sooner. This is my fault. Thank goodness that at least Amada is too young to partake in such activities," she said, to Minako's disbelief, like there was a crisis of unprecedented magnitude unfolding.

"Hey, that's right. And wasn't there that Bebe guy she's always hanging out with? Plus, there was Hidetoshi…that guy was a prick. And what about that Theo guy, who we still don't know anything about," Junpei said, with a look of fake curiosity. Minako wanted to strangle him. He knew what he was doing. She could see the grin on his stupid face, as he was pretending to be just as appalled as Mitsuru and Yukari. "Damn, Mina-tan…don't you know when to take a break?"

Minako knew what Mitsuru was thinking and why she was reacting the way she was. Personas were the embodiment of your other selves, and for Minako to have these personas, it meant that she must have some particular issues of this nature. But Minako knew she didn't have any issues, she was just curious about how they looked in the Compendium, and she liked their abilities. Yet now it looked like she had made a major mistake in choosing these three, and she wished to God that she had chosen to bring a different set of persona into Tartarus, on this particular trip.

"We should postpone our Tartarus excursions for the next week, since this is an important issue. We have no direction now, so it doesn't really matter. I will also be restricting the outings you have with male members of the dorm or those from Gekkoukan…" Mitsuru said, further dealing the strict schedule Arisato would now be placed on. "…With the exception of Iori," Mitsuru raised a delicate eyebrow, "since you aren't romantically interested in Arisato, are you?" she asked, with a questioning tone. It was meant to both cow Iori, and verify her statement. "However, I suggest you be careful around her, since we didn't know how suddenly uncontrollable her obsession is," Mitsuru said in all seriousness, as if casually discussing the weather or something mundane, not the striking implications of that.

Junpei eagerly saluted her. "Don't worry, you got it boss!" he said eagerly, grinning widely. Minako knew the wide toothed grin was the fakest smile he could possibly give anyone. Mitsuru, despite that, accepted it as though it was like he was being entirely sincere with his assessment. Damn it. He looked like this was the most fun he had ever had in his life, and somehow Minako knew that he was going to milk this thing for all it was worth. The next few weeks were going to be hell.

"Guys, I don't have an issue!" Minako burst out, trying to get them to listen to her somehow. To her horror, she felt someone was patting her arm in sympathy. She couldn't believe this was happening. She shook her head, closing her eyes. Damn it.

"Hey, we're going to help you through this," Yukari said, assuring her. Minako saw that Yukari was staring at her with what looked like pity in her eyes, and to her horror, it was her hand on Minako's bicep. Minako knew Yukari was very prudish about anything involving dating or guys, and for her to witness all this stuff coming out of her friend's mind, she probably thought her friend had a real problem.

"That's right. You will have the best of care, should you choose to utilize it," Mitsuru said. The S.E.E.S. members closed in around Minako, offering gestures of comforting support, even Junpei, who looked like he was doing all he can not to crack up. They began escorting her away from the area, holding her gently with kid gloves, as if she was some mental patient who had to be handled carefully, lest she do something unpredictable, or if she was too fragile and would break.

_I'm not crazy!_, Minako screamed in her mind. But she stayed quiet. She let them escort her away from the dungeon to the exit, as if she really needed their help and care. It was obvious that Mitsuru and Yukari's minds were decided, and nothing she said was going to change that. There was nothing more to be done. Perhaps tomorrow would be another day, a different one, and this madness would end, and she would be able to have another productive talk with her colleagues and convince them that she was one hundred percent perfectly sane. That was an awful lot of hoping and speculating, but it was all Minako had right now at the moment. She sighed.

This had definitely spiraled out of control. It wasn't fair. Minako was the leader of S.E.E.S., and she was being treated like a five year old with emotional issues. No, not a five year old, she thought with a frown; instead, someone who preyed on others, whether it was intentional or not. She felt humiliated, and she wanted to shove that sword of Junpei's into a certain body part from which he would never recover. Still, the solution to the situation was fairly obvious in Minako's mind, much as she didn't want to admit it. It wouldn't change anything about the situation now, but it would be a useful guideline for interacting with her friends in the future, on their next excursion. She analyzed the cost of coming here alone, compared to using those personas and receiving the same reactions from her friends again, and possible commitment to a mental institution if she fought Mitsuru on this further rather than use a therapist. She shook her head, as she reached a decision. The abilities were intriguing, but they weren't worth it, now that she could see the kind of trouble they caused her. It was depressing, but what else was there to do? She shook her head in silence and walked, hoping she would just be able to forget all about this depressing, horrible night by tomorrow morning, although she knew that was impossible; she was also hoping she would be able to look Junpei in the eye again, without wanting to jump him and make him eat his own arm for his perverted deviousness. It wouldn't do well for the authorities to be called to the dorm, on account of her brutalizing her best friend. Although Yukari would enjoy it. Yeah, without a doubt, her life was going to suck for the next few weeks.

She was never using those personas again.

Stupid penis chariot.

* * *

_A/N: I struggled with whether to include that last line or not, but it just seemed too appropriate not to! The next scene will deal with an altered execution, on Mitsuru's part. Also, Minako introduces Mitsuru to her strongest admirer!  
_

_Until next time, have fun reading! Cheers! ^_^_


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